A Certain Slant Of Light
by edieslugbug
Summary: Tommy and Jude. Lots of fluff. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

"Remember, Tommy? How we woke up next to each other and you were about to kiss me before they walked in?" Jude yelled across the room. Tommy still hadn't discussed that night with her, even though she had asked him to many times.

"Jude, I told you, not now." He said back to her firmly.

"Then when?" She was exhausted. She was sick of the constant battle with Tommy and their emotions.

"You want to talk? Let's talk." He said, making Jude smile a little bit because she had won. He stalked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Let's talk about that night. About how…childish you make me feel. I feel like some teenage boy who has a huge crush on some way younger girl, Jude. I feel like a pedophile. I feel like what I'm doing is disgusting. Almost every time I kiss you my first immediate thought is that I hurt you by doing it. I'm too old for you, Jude, and it kills me. But despite that, I can't stop. I can't stop kissing you and thinking about you, and hating whoever you're dating at the time." His hands dropped to her waist and he cocked his head sadly as he looked at her.

Jude glanced down at her feet.

"But you never even talk to me about it. That's all I want, is for you to tell me things like you just told me. It makes me feel so much better just to know that you don't hate me. That you didn't give me the cold shoulder for a week because I'm a stupid kid." She said softly.

Tommy pulled her in and hugged her tenderly, her hair falling into his face. He inhaled and memorized the scent.

"You're not a stupid kid, and I don't hate you."

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear as her arms tightened around him in their embrace.

"I don't want to hurt you, I really don't." He said, pulling away.

"But every time my feelings get the best of me I do. I can't help but want to hold your hand, or hug you, or kiss you."

Jude leaned her back against the wall.

"It's okay. I understand." She said, and Tommy nodded before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

3 Weeks Later:

"Tommy, you told me you would stop with this." Jude murmured under her breath.

"Jude, that's like asking you to stop being a musician. I can't control it. I'm sorry." He whispered as he backed up from her.

"We were doing fine until now. Why now?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"I could ask you the same question. Why'd you kiss me back _this_ time?"

"Whatever." She couldn't answer the question, he already knew the answer anyway.

"I have a boyfriend." She told him.

"I'm twenty-four." He said. "I wonder what other problems we have, uh?"

"I can't deal with you right now. You're so…aggravating." She said, pushing herself up from the seat and walking towards the door.

"Stop." He grabbed her forearm.

"You said a few weeks ago that we never talk about it. So let's talk about it, and not wait a month like last time." He said, pulling her back to her seat and pushing her lightly into it. He sat down across from her.

"Be honest. Why did you kiss me back?" He asked her.

"Nuh uh, no way. You started this thing. So why did you kiss me in the first place?" She was getting angry now.

"I got caught up in the moment." He shrugged.

Jude shook her head. "That's a lie and you know it."

"Fine. But you have to tell me the true answer to my question first." He said, pointing at her.

She shook her foot unconsciously. "Maybe because I have a little thing for you." She said quietly. Tommy smirked.

"What about Speed, your boyfriend, remember?" He reminded her.

"You asked me to answer the question, so I did!" She yelled at him. He backed up a little and put his hands up in the air innocently.

"Your turn." She told him.

He swallowed.

"So I have a little thing for you too. Nothing huge." He lied easily.

"So how do we get over the thing?" She asked him.

"Get laid." She raised an eyebrow. "Not by each other, I mean by someone else. Maybe we're just needing some action. When's the last time you and Speed…you know…hooked up?" He asked her. Her jaw dropped.

"That's none of your business! Pick another solution." She told him.

"We just forget about it. And try not to think about each other. Deal?"

"Deal." She said, shaking his hand professionally and getting up.


	3. Chapter 3

One Week Later:

"That plan didn't work." Tommy whispered and opened his eyes, pulling away from Jude and resting his hand on the steering wheel.

"No." Jude replied.

"Why can't you just give me a normal, friendly goodbye?" She asked him.

"I don't know. Why don't we just forget about it?" He suggested, and Jude gave him a glance that showed she was kind of hurt by the fact that he had just said that. But she nodded and left the car without another word.

"Good morning, sunshine." Tommy said sardonically as Jude slumped into his car with her eyes half closed and a coffee mug in her hand.

"I don't have the energy for you to be an ass, just drive." She mumbled and took a swig of her coffee.. Tommy grabbed the mug and took a sip of it, as well, handing it back to her.

"Excuse me." She glared at him.

"What?" He asked her. "It's not like we haven't swapped spit before." He mumbled under his breath.

Jude heard him and smacked him on the arm playfully.

"What happened to forgetting about it, eh?" She asked him, but he was silent for the rest of the ride to work.

"I think I should leave, Kwest." Tommy told his best friend later that day.

"What? Where to?" Kwest asked back, fixing a sandwich.

"Some other branch of G Major. The Jude thing is way too out of hand." He said quietly, running a hand through his hair.

Kwest stopped fixing his sandwich and looked up at his friend.

"You need to tell her."

"Tell her what? That I'm leaving or that I'm in love with her?" He asked him.

"Both." Kwest said.

"Nuh, uh. No way. If I tell her I'm in love with her and then say I'm leaving that will just make everything so much more complicated. I'll just tell her I'm leaving, and that'll have to do. And don't try to persuade me into telling her. I'm not going to." He said, walking out of the kitchen and into the studio to work with Jude.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Alright, last chapter. And all props go to "The Office" on NBC for the ending. I kinda took it. And some of you may not like the ending, it is kind of a major bummer, I know. But it has to end there, going any further would just make it too different, plus I don't have anything planned for any further. So, hope you enjoy.

Tommy walked into the studio a couple of days later, his head hung low.

He had purposefully waited until everyone else had left, he didn't want to cause a scene when he told Jude he was leaving.

He looked at her for a minute as she strummed her guitar, eyes closed and completely giving her self to the music.

He didn't want to disturb her. She looked so beautiful with her hair pulled back in a messy bun and an oversized band t-shirt paired with her jeans.

"Hey." He said softly, hoping he wouldn't hear her so he could stay watching her forever.

But she heard him. She glanced up and smiled at him, happy to see him.

"Hey." She said, putting her guitar down and walking up to him. Her smile was bright, but it faded when she saw the serious look on his face.

"What?" She asked him, touching his arm lightly.

He glanced down at her hand on his arm. He needed to touch her, to wrap her in his arms and hold her tight.

_Just tell her. It's not that hard. Come on._ He fought with himself to restrain from kissing her, and he backed up a little, making her hand fall to her side.

"What is it?" She asked again.

_Tell her. You don't have all night. I'm leaving._ "I'm in love with you." He blurted out. He surprised himself. That was nothing near what he had planned to tell her. She looked as shocked as he did.

"What?" She asked softly.

"I'm sorry…if that's weird for you to hear, but, I need you to hear it." He said, desperately seeking for an explanation of his admittance. Why had he said that? It made things so hard. He could've just kept it a secret, and left, and eventually he would've gotten over her.

"What do you expect me to say to that?" She snapped at him.

He shrugged. He hadn't expected "I love you too", definitely not.

"I just…thought you should know. Once." He told her.

She looked bewildered. And she didn't know what to say.

"I…can't?" She said it as if it was a question.

"Look…you have no idea…" She started.

"No. Come on. Don't do that." He interrupted her, but she kept going.

"…what your friendship means to me."

He didn't know if it was the fact that he wasn't strong enough to lie anymore, or if it was the fact that this was his last chance that made him say, "Come on, I don't want that. I want more than that."

"I can't." She said it as a statement this time, not a question.

"I'm sorry that you misunderstood our…friendship. It's my fault." She said to him.

But he hadn't misunderstood. He knew he hadn't. What was up with the kisses and the stolen glances, if he had misunderstood? And the late nights in the studio that had no explanation besides a crappy excuse of "I want to work some more."? He hadn't misunderstood. But he left it at that.

"Right." He said, and walked out of the studio, out of the building, and to his car.


End file.
